Joc Pederson (’10) pulled up to play in major leagues

Joc Pederson ('10) was pulled up to play in the major leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Image taken from Creative Commons.

Joc Pederson (’10) was pulled up to play in the major leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Image taken from Creative Commons.

Meredith Kinnaman, Staff Writer
September 1, 2014

Palo Alto High School graduate Joc Pederson (’10) was called up today from the minor leagues to play for the Los Angles Dodgers.

At Paly Pederson was as three-sport varsity athlete. He played baseball, basketball, and football for the Vikings. In 2010 Pederson won The Viking Magazine‘s Male Athlete of the Year .

Having the choice of going to playing baseball at the University of Southern California or going into the minor leagues, Pederson chose to play in the minor leagues. He was drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB draft to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 2011 Pederson started out playing for the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Baseball League. In 2012 the Dodgers named Pederson “Minor League Player of the year”. Following that award Pederson was picked to play in the Southern League All-Star game in 2013.

In 2013 Baseball America ranked Pederson as the #1 prospect for the Dodgers.

Today’s game marked the start of Pederson’s major league baseball career. The Dodgers lost 6-4 against the Washington Nationals in the first game of a three game series.